Apparatus for fabricating structural members



June 19, 1928.

M. A. BAKER APPARATUS FOR FABRICATI'NG STRUCTURAL MEMBERS 3 Sheets-Sheet1 Original Filed Oct. 1925 glwuento'a Milo A. Baker June 19,1928.

1,673,965 M. A. BAKER APPARATUS FOR FABRICATING STRUCTURAL MEMBERSOriginal Filed Oct. 8, 1925 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 gwoentoz Ml'lo A-Baker June19, 1928. 1,673,965

M. A. BAKER APPARATUS FOR FABRICATING STRUCTURAL MEMBERS Original FiledOct. 8, 1925 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 i1\ 5 6. Jf $1 52 51 D O 9 Q J o i l O o--6'6 49 a2 If 7 1M 5o so- 51' :19 '56 -56 gwwmtoz Milo A Baker PatentedJune 19, 1928.

UNITED STATES MILO A. BAKER, 0F LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA APPARATUS FORFABRICATING STRUCTURAL MEMBERS.

Original application filed October 8, 1925, Serial No. 61.204, nowPatent No. 1,619,232, dated March 1, 1927. Divided and this applicationfiled December 28, 1926. Serial No. 157,469.

The matter herein described and claimed is divided out of my co-pendingapplication for patent, filed October 8, 1925, Serial No. 61,204 nowPatent No. 1,619,232, granted March 1, 1927.

This invention relates to electric drilling apparatus, and especially tothe type in which the drill can be readily moved into differentpositions in a horizontal plane so as to quickly effect the drilling ofa number of holes in different parts of the work. "his drillingapparatus is especially useful in drilling holes in structural steel oriron elements for receiving the rivets employed in the fabricating ofsaid elements.

This apparatus for fabricating structural members is particularlyadapted to the construction of large steel or iron members, such asbuilt-up girders, columns, and other structural units employed inbuildings, bridges, etc, in other words, structural members builtup ofplates and angles, channels, or thelike. Such members, by reason oftheir great size, weight and diversity of form, render impracticable the,use of jigs or holders of the type commonlyemployed for assembling andmachining small or medium sized articles, or for quantity production oflike parts. By the use of this apparatus I secure greater accuracy'and asuperior quality of work than that resulting from the methodsusually'employed for fabricating large structural members.

A very important object attained by the operations performed by this.apparatus is the saving effected in the time and labor consumed inlaying out the work for riveting and also in the time of actualdrilling. By this apparatus a plurality of parts are assembled andclamped together before drilling. thus making it necesssary to lay outthe holes, or their location, on. only the uppermost member. Not only isa better j ob secured by employing this apparatus but the work is lesscostly toproduce.

The usual method employed in fabricating structural elements'is to drillor punch the holes in the different members separately and, accordingly,the rivets when driven," often do not entirely fill the holes because ofthe holes being out of alinement, thus permitting a bending strain tocome upon the rivets instead of a mere shearing. Rivets are; of course,much stronger in shear than in. bree g- An object is to provideforclamping together the structural elements that are to be riveted so thatthe drilling can be effected and then the riveting accomplished whilethe elements. are still clamped together as they were for drilling.

Another object is to provide a support for the work under electricalcontrol.

Another object is to provide for the ab sorption of shock in startingand stopping the work support.

Other objects and advantages will appear in the subjoined detaileddescription.

The accompanying drawings illustrate the invention:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a drilling apparatus constructed in accordancewith the provisionsof this invention, the work that is to be drilledbeing indicated upon the work supports.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged side elevation of one i of the work supportingcarriages, a girder plan View of Fig.2 partly'in ing indicated on thecarriage in full and broken lines.

Fig. 5 is a View, partly in section on the line indicated by 55, Fig. 1,one of the movably mounted. drills being shown in elevation.

Fig. 6 is an edge view showing a number of clamps secured to a plategirder, which is indicated in broken lines.

Fig. 7 is an end elevation of onset the clamps shown in Fig. 6.

Fig. 8 is a plan View of a modified form of carriage for supportingsteel plates that are tobe drilled.

Fig. 9 is a sectional elevation on the line indicated by 9 9, Fig. 8. i

Fig. 10 is an enlarged broken sectional detail on the line indicated by10--10 Fig. 19. Fig. 11 is a sectional elevation on the line indicatedby 11-11, Fig. 8.

Fig. 12 is an enlarged detail of the latch for coupling the carriage tothe operating cable. I

The form of the invention illustrated, in F gs to 5 w l first hedescribed.

In Fig. 1 a plurality of trucks or car riages 17 is shown, there being,in this instance, two such carriages on each of the tracks 18. The workto be drilled ma;- be supported at its opposite ends on the twocarriages on one track.

The carriages are moved to and fro on the tracks bv the followingdescribed mechanism: An endless cable 19 runs between the tracks andaround an idler sheave 20 at one end of the tracks and around otheridler sheaves 21 adjacentto the other end of the tracks. Between two ofthe idler sheaves 21 is a rotatabl mounted drum around whicl a portionoi the cable 19 is wound so that turning of the drum will wind the ableat one side and tmwind the cable at the other side. The drum shaft '23is con nected by suitable driving gear to a motor Q5.

The energizing circuit of the motor is indicated at it and said circuitis opened and closed by a magnetic switch 37 controlled by a manuallyoperated switch 2.25. lt is not necessary to describe in detail themagnetic switch 27 and manuallv operated switch 28. herein, as these arewell understood in the art relating thereto, and it suttices to statethat the switch may be op crated so as to cause rotation of the motorclockwise or countercloclnvise to drive the cable 19 in eitherdirection.

Suitable means is provided for releasably coupling the cable 1?) to thecarriages 17 and. in this instance. said means is constructed asfollows: Portions oi the cable 19 are formed of chain links 2-) and anyone of the links is adapted to engage in a vertical slot 30 in astandard or bracket 31 that projects upwardly at one side of thecarriage. The slot 30 opens to the upper end oi. the standard 31.

The links that are at opposite ends of the link tl at is engaged in theslot 30 form shoulders 32 adapted to engage the standard 31 and thusprevent any appreciable relative movement between the cable and thecarriage when the cable is coupled to said earriage.

In this instance. the standard 31 is secured to a movable member 33pivoted at 3a to the frame 35 of the carriage. Means is provided foryieldingly holding the free end of the member against longitudinalmoven'ient relative to the frame 35 and. accordingly, the member 33passes through a plunger 36 that operates in a cvlinder 37, the cylinderhaving longitudinally extending slots 38 to permit of movement of themember 33 lengthwise of the cylinder. At each end of the plunger 36 is acoil spring- 39 within the cylinder, said springs being of equalstrength so as to balance the plunger in a midway position in thecylinder. in which position the member 33 is substantial 1y at rightangles to the longitudinal axis of the carriage. The cylinder 37 fixed.being' secured in any suitable manner to the underside of the frame 35.When the drum 22 is started into operation to draw the cable 19 ineither direction the ap in'opriate sprint! 39 will yield to absorb theshock that would otherwise be imposed upon the carriage in starting saidcarriage into motion.

In order to facilitate the drilling of some of the elements ofrelatively deep girders. each carriage frame 35 compriz-1es longitirdinal members 40 which. in thisv lllrdtlllt't. are channel beamsarranged in pairs. one pair for each side and the bean o" each pairspaced to rereive between them a pair oi flanged wheels -ll. i'.,f,-'flll't ll beneath and extending from one of the members hi to theother are cross channel henna: 4:3 with their webs uppermost. 'lhtgirderto be operated on. indicated at It. restx on the beams 42. Thiscon.--ztructhm oi' the carriages permits the girders to r st ver low onthe carriages and also to project as far as desired over the ends ol thecarria; e. thus making it pozsible to use a ehorter track than it? thegirder were supported in a manner to preclude it projecting beyond bothends oi the carriages.

When operatin on beams or columns. it. is frequently the case that it isdesirable to turn the 1 am or column over upon the carriage betweendifferent drilling operations. Especially is it. necessary to frequentlyperform this operation on H-beams, one of which is indicated inditl'ercnt positions in full and in broken lines at 7) in Fig. l. inorder to etl'ect the turning, over of the beams and columns. theflexible member, in this instance a chain 4-3. of the hoisting tackle iswrapped around the beam b, as clearly shown in Fig. 4C. and a hooklllsecured to the end of the chain is hooked over the edge of one of theflanges oi the beam. in this instance -the uppermost flange. Crossmembers elfnwhich may be I-beant are laid on the tops of the channelbeams l0 so as to extend from one to the other of said beams. and thereis provided near one end of one of the cross members do on each of thetwo can riages a slanting abutment 46 which is re leasably secured bybolts 47 to the cross members The abutment l6 aslant upwardly andoutwardly. To turn the beam, the hoisting tackle will be drawn upwardly,thus causing the beam to turn about its longitudinal axis. The presenceoi the abutments 4-6 prevents the beam from rolling to the ends of thecross members 4:") and oil of said members onto the ground. The beamwhen thus turned. engages the abutments 46 and slides oil of saidabutments on to the cross members 4:5. This effects a quarter turn ofthe beam and the beam may be then turned another quarter of a turn by asimithe rivets approximately in alinement.

such rivets can occur.

lar procedure/ Each time the chain 43 is drawn upwardly to rotate thecolumn said column engages and slides down the abutments d6. By themeans described the columns can be turned very quickly by a singleattendant who simply anchors the chain l3 around the. column in themanner indicated in Fig. a and then has the chain pulled upwardly by asuitable hoist, not shown.

To the cross members 45 having the abut ments 4-6 there are secured,preferably, abutnients a8 which may be formed of angle irons and arespaced from the abutments l6 a sufficient distance to easily admit thebeam Z; between the abutments 46, -18. lVhen the beam Z) slides off ofthe abutments 46, which are preferably greased, the abutments l8 limitsliding of the beam Z) along the cross members li) away from theabutments 46. When the work is at rest on the beams 112, the crossmembers to will, of course, be re moved.

In fabricating the structural steel or iron members by the usual method,the members are marked at the points where the rivet holes are to bemade and the holes are then punched or drilled in each memberseparately. The members that are to be riveted 'to gether are thenplaced with the holes for The alinement is generally inaccurate in whichevent reaming of the hole is resorted to.

The misalinement is frequently so pronounced that the reaming does notcure it.

The rivets are then driven in the customary manner.

When the holes in the members are not accurately alined and the rivetsare driven, said rivets do not preferably fill the rivet holes. Inconsequence, the connection is not so strong as it would be if therivets perfectly filled the holes, because bending of Because of thisimperfection in fabricating structural steel, the engineer whoestimatesthe strength of the various members that are to form a structure mustallow a larger factor of safety-than would be necessary if accuracy inthe fitting of the rivets in the holes could be depended upon so thatsaid rivetswould be only in shear. In order that the riveting may givemaximum strength, I propose to clamp the structural members together, tothen drill the members'while thus clamped together and, finally, todrive the rivets while the members are still clamped to gether. Suitableclamps for this purpose are indicated, in general, at 49 in Figs. 6 and7. .The clamps are of identical construction and, therefore, only onewill be described follows:

Each clamp 49 comprisesspaced clamping members 50. andsaidmembers arelonger than the width of the members that are to be assembled byriveting. These members 50 are connected together at their opposite 5i.will be tightened to clamp the members 50 against the edges of theoutstanding legs of the angle irons. Screws 5d pass through the members50 and each is provided adja cent to the inner face of the member 50with a nut 55. The screws 54 can be shifted longitudinally of themembers 50 because of the slots 56 in said members. The screws 54!: willbe positioned opposite the angle legs that are parallel with the plate52 and the nuts will be turned to clamp the screw 54 against the angleirons, thus securely clamping the plate 52 between the angle irons. Theclamps ll) will be placed at intervals along the member that is beingfabricated, as indicated in Fig. (3, and then while the elements thatconstitute said member are clamped together, holes will be drilled atthe designated places, and the rivets are then driven while the elementsare still clamped together. After the rivets are driven the clamps willbe removed.

Though the drilling of the rivet holes may be elfected in any suitablemanner while the structural elements are clamped together, I prefer tosuspend the drill so that it may be moved freely over the work from oneposition to another. Referring more especially to Fig. :5, the drill isindicated 2113.63 and is of any suitable construction, being in thisinstance an electrically driven drill of well known type. The drill isshiftably mounted, being provided with wheels 6% that run on a track 65.In this instance the track is m'ovably mounted, being in the form of aboom that projects from a pivoting standard. 56. This mounting of thedrill is described in more detail and is claimed in my copendingapplication for patent tiled October 8,1925, Serial No. 61,205. Saidcopending application also describes ahydrau lic mechanism for raisingand lowering of drills to work simultaneously ona single girder or otherlong structural element.

The apparatus above described operates as follows: Assuming, forexamplepthat the of any suitable clamps 67. The rivet posi-' tions willthen be marked on the cover plates. The switch 28 will be properlyoperated to cause the trucks supporting said girder to run along thetrack to position the girder so that the drill or drills (33 can bebrought to bear upon the marked rivet positions that are to be drilled.The drill or drills will then be operated to drill the requisite rivet;holes through the cover plates and the structural elements to which theplates are to be fastened. Then, while the cover plates are stillclamped. rivets will be driven in the holes thus drilled and. linally.the clamps will be removed. Chile the girder is under construction. itmay be necessary attimes to move it alon the track so that the drill maybe enabled to reach far separated portions ol' the girder. At such timesthe Wllt'll as will be properly operated to move the carriages asdesired to obtain this result.

1 have shown in Figs. 8 to 12. inclusive, a modilied l'orm oil carriageor truck to;- supporting the work that to be drilled and for moving thework into dili'erent positions. The parts that functionally correspondto those described for the carriage 1T will be indicated by the samereference characters with the addition of the letter a thus avoiding arepetition of the description of structure that is the same for thecarriage 17. This carriage 17 is more especially dc signed forsupporting plates that are to be drilled. The operating cable 19 has thechain 29 and said chain engages a slot- 30 in a bracket or standard 31that is secured to one end of a cylinder 37. A similar standard may beprovided at the other end of the cylinder. The slot 80 opens to thelower end at the standard 3 and, in order to prevent the chain 29 fromslipping out of said slot. 1 have provided a latch 57 in the tlorm of abook which is pivoted at one end at 58 to the standard 31. The latch 57is adapted to be swung into a vertical position to hook beneath thechain Qt) when the chain is in the slot 30. The cylinder 37 tree to movelongitudinally in guides 59 which are secured to the frame In thecylinder 37'' is a. plunger 36 which is hold stationary by a pin (it)passing through the plunger and fixed at its opposite ends in a bracket61 formed of a pair of plates that are secured to and project down fromcross members ()2 of the trame Positioned in the cylinder 37*"- at eachend of the plunger till-' is a coil spring 39. The springs 39 are of thesame strength so as to hold the cylinder 3? balanced. The operation ofthis device. when the cable 19 is pulled in either direction. is thesame as previously described for the shock absorber illustrated in Fig.3, excepting that, in this instance, the cylinder is yieldine'ly held bythe springs against longitudinal movement so that the shock istransmitted by the cable 19 to the cylinder and thence to either spring3t.

In the above description of the operation oi": the invention. I haveincluded the method of fabricating structural elements, since theelements are first clamped together, the rivet positions marked oil onone 01 the elements;

holes drilled through the clamped elements at; the marked positions andrivets driven in the holes while the elements remain clamped.

It to be understood that before the clamps are removed. bolts may bepassed through the holes drilled for the rivets and the mus on saidbolts drawn up tight so as to clamp the structural members together,whereupon the special clamps may be removed. Thus, in the appendedclaims, "clamp and analogous expressions are to be understood asindicating the use ol either the special clamps or the bolts, just mentioned. whereby the structural members are temporarily clamped togetherwhile the holes are being drilled and the rivets driven in said holes.

A variation of the above method may be pursued by interpolatine, betweenthe operations of clamping the elements and markin oil the rivetpositions the operations of tack welding the elements together atdifi'erent points thercalong; and unclamping the elements. Such tackwelding is indicated at 62 in Fig. ti and it. is to be understood thatthe term tack welding employed herein defines the operation of making aweld 01 any suitable character at dili'erent spots or places whetheronly the metal of the welded elements constitutes the weld or othermetal than that of the elements be used in the weld.

The methods indicated above are not claimed herein but are the subjectof my copending application for patent tiled October S. 1925. Serial No.(31.201. now Patent 1,619,232, granted March 1, 1927.

I claim:

1. An apparatus for lal'iricating structural members con'iprising atrack. a plurality of trucks on the track spaced to support opposite endportions of a structural element, an endless cable, means under thecontrol of an operator to operate the cable in either direction at will,and a means to couple each of the trucks to the cable.

An apparatus for fabricating structural members con'iprising a pluralityof trucks having longitudinally extending frame members, wheelssupporting said members, a track for the wheels to run on, and crossmembers secured beneath the longitudinal members to supportthereon belowthe tops of the longitudinal members the end portions of a structuralmember.

3. An apparatus for fabricating structur- :11 members comprising atrack, a plurality of trucks on the track spaced to support opposite endportions of a structural element, an endless cable, means under thecontrol of an operator to operate the cable in either direction at will,and a means to yieldingly couple each of the trucks to the cable.

4. An apparatus for fabricating structural members comprising a track atruck on the track, an endless cable, means under the control of anoperator to operate the cable in either direction at will, a cylindersecured to the truck a plunger in the cylinder, springs in the cylinderat opposite ends of the plunger, a member pivoted to the truck andengaging the plunger, and means connecting the cable to said pivotedmember.

5. An apparatus for fabricating structur al members comprising a track,a truck on the track, an endless cable, means under the control of anoperator to ope 'ate the cable in either direction at will, and meansconnecting the cable to the truck and including opposed springs toabsorb shocks from the cable.

6. An apparatus for fabricating structural members comprising a track, atruck on the track provided With a standard having a slot, an endlesscable in the slot pro day of December, 1926.

vided with shoulders on either side of the standard and means under thecontrol of an operator to operate the cable in either direction at will.

7. An apparatus for fabricating structural members comprising a track,trucks on the track an endless cable, means to couple the cable to eachof the trucks, means under the control of an operator to operate thecable in either direction at will, an abutment on each truck having anupwardly and out Wardly slanting face, and a second abutment on eachtruck spaced from the first mentioned abutment sufiiciently to permit ofturning of a structural element about its longitudinal axis betweenthefirst and second mentioned abutments.

8. An apparatus for fabricating structural members comprising a track,trucks on the track, an abutment on each truck having an upwardly andoutwardly slanting face. and a second abutment on each truck spaced fromthe first mentioned abutment suflicient to permit of turning of astructural member about its longitudinal axis between the first andsecond mentioned abutments.

Signed at Los Angeles, Calif., this 20th mm A. BAKER.

